1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lower structure of a vehicle body rear part of a vehicle provided with a spare tire housing formed on a rear floor.
2. Description of Related Art
In a common vehicle, a spare tire housing for housing a spare tire is provided at a rear floor in a vehicle body rear part. For the vehicle having such a structure, when a load is applied from the vehicle rear, the spare tire moves toward the vehicle front because the spare tire is harder than the vehicle body, and accordingly the spare tire housing may be deformed, and may move to the vehicle front. In particular, since a fuel tank is disposed in front of the spare tire housing, the deformed spare tire housing may unfavorably contact with the fuel tank.
In such a case, countermeasures are conceivable such that the load is absorbed by the surroundings of the spare tire housing by securing a sufficient space between the spare tire housing and a back panel. Also, in the case in which the fuel tank is disposed in front of the spare tire housing, countermeasures are conceivable such that the load is absorbed by the surroundings of the spare tire housing by securing a sufficient distance between the spare tire housing and the fuel tank.
On the other hand, a space for arranging parts other than the spare tire housing and fuel tank must also be secured, and many restrictions are placed on the layout of vehicle body parts. Therefore, the space in the rear of the spare tire housing, the distance between the spare tire housing and the fuel tank, and the like cannot be secured sufficiently in many cases. Also, if an attempt is made to sufficiently secure the space in the rear of the spare tire housing, the distance between the spare tire housing and the fuel tank, and the like, there arises a problem of increased size of vehicle body, which poses a big problem especially in the case of a compact car.
Furthermore, a rear seat is disposed on the front upper side of the spare tire housing, and when a load is applied from the vehicle rear, the spare tire may move to the front upper side. In this case, there arises a problem that the spare tire contacts with the rear seat.
Therefore, in the structure disclosed in, for example, JP 10-316050 A, to avoid the contact of the deformed spare tire housing with the fuel tank, the spare tire is housed in the state in which the front side of the spare tire is raised from the installation position of the fuel tank to tilt the spare tire.
Also, in the structure disclosed in JP 2007-276605 A, to avoid the collision of the deformed spare tire housing with the fuel tank and to prevent the spare tire from contacting with the rear seat, the spare tire is housed in the state in which the front side of the spare tire is raised from the installation position of the fuel tank to tilt the spare tire, and also a fragile part is provided on the vehicle rear side of a spare tire bracket for mounting the center of the spare tire to the spare tire housing. In this case, when a load is applied from the vehicle rear, the spare tire bracket is deformed with the fragile part being a starting point, whereby the front side of the spare tire is further raised, and the spare tire is turned and tilted further.
However, in the case of only the structure in which the spare tire is housed in the state in which the front side of the spare tire is raised from the installation position of the fuel tank to tilt the spare tire as in JP 10-316050 A, the spare tire moves easily toward the front upper side when a load is applied from the vehicle rear. Therefore, the spare tire may still contact with the rear seat.
Also, in the case of a structure in which the fragile part is provided on the spare tire bracket for mounting the spare tire as in JP 2007-276605 A, during the time when the vehicle is running, the spare tire vibrates easily with the fragile part being a starting point. Therefore, noise is generated by the vibrations of the spare tire, and furthermore there arises a problem that the spare tire bracket itself is damaged easily by fatigue cracks.